It's amazing. Long Island, I don't know really. It's quite a fascinating area.

First of all, when you build a restaurant of that phenomenon-I really hate that word "set" and I hate the word "cast" -it is from the most amazing health and hygiene ... properly air conditioned, properly irrigated with hot and cold running water... Obviously, FOX is paying for it, so in terms of expenditure it's far more economical and on the back of the draw were 22,500 cast. Finding 30 chefs in that bunch wasn't difficult.

I'm not critic-proof, and I still take it personally, but I take it less personally now.

I am the most unselfish chef in Britain today.

A lot of people think that I am only in town when I'm doing the publicity circuit, but I actually come [Bread Street] regularly. I just don't publicise it.

The essence of Reality TV is all about drama. So, I think bringing pressure is healthy whether it's a professional chef or a domestic chef. Because the only way ever to really identify the true purpose of how good they are is submerging them under pressure. So I say it's no different than a live football game because it's about the intensity.

It goes back to the early days in the kitchen where you would be tasting dishes all night long, so the last thing I want to do in the morning is eat. Chefs generally tend to be grazers.